These two can be further broken down into religious and non-religious, ascetic and hedonist, and so on. However, this distinction is important unto itself. If one approaches life as a means, whether towards and afterlife or goal towards something else, they view all actions as building up to a singularity. One event of life (or afterlife) justifies the rest. Sacrifice is to be made accordingly in the name of the almighty Goal. There is a focus placed forward and away from the moment, experiencing events in passing, always with eyes on the prize. This way of living gives rise to busyness, a constant feeling of urgency, and detest for "wasting time". This is widespread in our time, bleeding between religious and secular life, feeding its own fire with guilt and self pity if the goal is missed. It even haunts us on our death beds. Failure is entrenched in guilt and often takes the wind out of one's sails, only to be brought back by the importance of that shining beacon at the end of the road. This is proclaimed a high value, shouted from the rooftops by intellectuals, philosophers, and politicians. It is posted in our classrooms and worn with pride by our heroes. They had a goal, they accomplished it. They are happy, loved, respected, proud of their achievements. They have reached their goal, but what now of life? New goals, new struggle, a new ladder to climb. I question this, their happiness and pride, and most of all I question our praise of it.
On the other side. Life as an end. To live in the moment, experience the zest of life, and float on down the river. To live for now, and love life as it is. Accepting whatever comes one's way and all of life's absurdities. So stare into the blandness of everyday with a smile. To look in horror at atrocities without negating the value of life. To live without meaning, purpose, or direction other than simply existing. This is very Eastern, Taoist, Buddhist, and even Existentialist. You wake up and go to sleep, and that is all. There is nothing to be improved upon, because life is what it is. The universe the same, it simply IS, and so are we. This is terrifying to the types above. To those who are all too aware of life's fleeting nature and try to grab onto it, make it into something safer. Those who see life as an end feel no need to turn life into anything else, and to rush through it would be a sin to one's self.
This dichotomy can also be described as saying "Yes" and "No" to life. This is how Nietzsche views the phenomena and I would have to agree. There is a negation of life in the ways of the "life as means" class. Existence isn't good enough without some purpose. To simply live is a waste, the day to day is humdrum and the real nitty gritty is some high goal for us to amount to. However, this goal is never enough. Alan Watts uses the example of "success" and its fleeting nature. From Kindergarten to becoming a CEO we are always after the ever elusive "success" just beyond our finger tips. Once we have it we don't know what to do with it. We look in the mirror and find ourselves as bored and ragged as ever. In the mean time we wasted precious time and energy. There is a neurotic lust after our own self worth. We have to prove it, if not to God than to ourselves. To our parents, our friends, our dog, our wife, someone needs to pat me on the back god damnit! I NEED TO KNOW WHEN I'VE REACHED THE FINISH LINE!! Well no one does. Often, people don't let you even get close, they get jealous of what you have, how you're closer to either their goal or yours and that upsets them. They want a pat too! This is a sickness, it is a profoundly stupid waste of time. Chasing the horizon until we find ourselves where we started.
I am clearly an advocate of the latter, as life as an end. However, this is not without fault. Part of living the examined life is to adhere to openness. To question all, and know nothing. Here lies my point. This is a goal. An unreachable goal, a goal that I value and chase myself. It is to obtain wisdom, and Socrates himself says no man can obtain it, only God. Well I may not believe in God, but I do believe the gist of the statement. This is the exact goal I have that has ironically led me to believe life is best experienced as an end. However, although I may show qualities of the busy men, trudging towards a fleeting horizon, I have learned to enjoy watching the sunsets. That is, to enjoy the ride. The all too cliche Bill Hicks saying "Life is just a ride" is very relevant here. Instead of trudging towards your goal with your eyes focused forward, turn your head and enjoy the sight in the meantime. There is a compromise where your life can be an end and a means. To enjoy the sights on your way to the top of whatever mountain you may be climbing.
The aimless life is a great romantic idea, and for some is an ecstatic reality. Honestly, we're all bumping around this world at random, no matter how organized and focused we may feel our lives are, there is always a great deal which is out of our control. This is referred to as Absurdity. You can either accept it, overcome it, and move on to higher grounds, or let it terrify you. Learning to live well in the greyness is essential.To my understanding, there are no promises in life other than what you have now, and even that is fleeting. Life is change. To grasp life is like trying to squeeze a river, it'll never work, and if you dam it up too much the pressure will cause it to blow. The problem we have as human beings is that of boredom. Things get old quick, and its nice to have change or to preoccupy one's self with certain activities. Its not a new idea either to occupy your time with things you love, activities that enrich your existence. There is compromise between the two extremes, moderation I believe it's called. Socrates also saw this as a virtue.
I'm not trying to advocate living a life without goals or desires. We all have wills and I do not believe you can exist without one. Rather, willing in the right direction, setting the right values and abiding by the right lifestyle is key. I don't mean right as in "right and wrong" but rather on a scale of "good and bad" with degrees towards which fulfills what you want out of life. To truly live life as an end, it must be your goal. To control your will to focus on the moment, to stop the chattering in your head from time to time and look at the clouds, or listen to someone speak (and I mean really listen, not just wait for your turn to speak). Don't put the goal out there somewhere, but right in front of you. There is a quote I recall that says, "Your greatest achievement is being alive." For some, that's setting the bar a little low, but it sounds like a great starting point for me. You achieve this everyday, and anything else is just a bonus. Regardless of what you aspire to, its not going to give you your time back. You may have endless potential, but not endless time. This door swings both ways, it means get off your ass and make something of yourself, or just enjoy what's less abundant.
Overall, I find thinking about stuff like this pretty important. If anything, the examined life lets you put things in perspective. You don't need to be a philosopher to appreciate that. Just wake up, think about what you want to do and ask yourself "Why?" This is the most important word in your vocabulary and can move mountains.
Stay True, Jam Econo
P.S My main goal now is to play these new songs I wrote with my band. Simple, but powerful. Even if I fail, I still wrote em'.
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